transfix
to make or hold motionless with amazement, awe, terror, etc.
to pierce through with or as if with a pointed weapon; impale.
to hold or fasten with or on something that pierces.
Origin of transfix
1Other words for transfix
Other words from transfix
- trans·fix·ion [trans-fik-shuhn], /trænsˈfɪk ʃən/, noun
- un·trans·fixed, adjective
Words Nearby transfix
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use transfix in a sentence
Even the kids appear to be transfixed, their eyes pinned to the glassy river surface or the rock walls that have come alive with the sun’s light as it climbs into the sky.
Finding solace — and splashes aplenty — on Colorado’s Yampa River | Rachel Walker | August 4, 2022 | Washington PostThe first time I heard “staircase,” about a disturbing home invasion, the story’s gradually deepening terror had me literally transfixed — physically rooted in place, frozen with fear.
One Good Thing: Knifepoint Horror, a collection of campfire ghost stories in podcast form | Aja Romano | October 29, 2021 | VoxHe didn’t cover any new ground—in fact, he read the remarks he gave on that day before rushing home from a summit in Peru—but the crowd was transfixed by his cameo.
Colin Powell and the Transformative Power of Owning Your Mistakes | Philip Elliott | October 18, 2021 | TimeThe impoverished nation of 11 million remained transfixed by questions — including whether the intellectual authors had come from the ranks of Moïse’s more obvious enemies or were potentially far closer to the president.
Assassination of Haitian president becomes complex international web | Widlore Merancourt, Anthony Faiola, Rachel Pannett, Shawn Boburg | July 9, 2021 | Washington PostAt first his pride compelled him to try again, but he was soon transfixed by what he was learning about the human body’s extraordinary ability to compensate for its injuries and illnesses.
The Broken Front Line | by Ava Kofman, photography by Kendrick Brinson and David Walter Banks | April 7, 2021 | ProPublica
Miraculously, Malala survived, and her courage, wisdom, and optimism have continued to transfix and inspire the world.
Promoting Girls’ Education Isn’t Enough: Malala Can Do More | Paula Kweskin | December 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTake the syringe in the right hand and with the needle transfix the fold near its base (Fig. 182).
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique | John William Henry EyreIt has not one element that asks the sense of beauty to incorporate it, or challenges the weapon of wit to transfix it.
Merle was looking Old Broadbrim squarely in the eye and his gaze seemed to transfix him like a lance.
Old Broadbrim Into the Heart of Australia | Author of "Old Broadbrim"They stuck out at right angles, seeming to transfix the rigid, death-white hands.
The Messenger | Elizabeth RobinsWhat joy, I thought, would it be to transfix the matchless beauty which had wrought itself thus into the visions of my old age!
British Dictionary definitions for transfix
/ (trænsˈfɪks) /
to render motionless, esp with horror or shock
to impale or fix with a sharp weapon or other device
med to cut through (a limb or other organ), as in amputation
Origin of transfix
1Derived forms of transfix
- transfixion (trænsˈfɪkʃən), noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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